John Gilbert Baker

Biography

Baker was born in Guisborough in North Yorkshire, the son of John and Mary (née Gilbert) Baker, and died in Kew.

He was educated at Quaker schools at Ackworth School and Bootham School, York.

He then worked at the library and herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew between 1866 and 1899, and was keeper of the herbarium from 1890 to 1899. He wrote handbooks on many plant groups, including Amaryllidaceae, Bromeliaceae, Iridaceae, Liliaceae, and ferns. His published works include Flora of Mauritius and the Seychelles (1877) and Handbook of the Irideae (1892). Baker issued several exsiccata-like series, among others the series Herbarium of British Roses [Herbarium Rosarum Britannicarum].

He married Hannah Unthank in 1860. Their son Edmund was one of twins, and his twin brother died before 1887.

John G. Baker was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1878. He was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1907.